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PITTSBURGH — Back in their dynasty days, the Montreal Canadiens were led by the “Big Three” on defence: Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe.

Well, it seems the Ottawa Senators have an even bigger three now.

On their side is God (aka Daniel Alfredsson), King (aka Erik Karlsson) and Superman (aka Chris Phillips).

How in this world do you top that troika?

“Alfredsson is God? Wow,” coach Paul MacLean played along after Wednesday’s early skate, when told about the recent assertion of Siri The iPhone ap. “That’s quite a leap. I guess it all depends on how you define God. There’s a lot of different ways, right? That’s another way.”

God didn’t take part in the optional skate at Consol Energy Center, perhaps because he was off interviewing pope candidates, or having eggs Benedict, or taking care of business on Ash Wednesday.

Neither did “King Karl”, who doesn’t need to be shooting any extra pucks these days. Superman was there, though, or at least someone who looked like Clark Kent in his suit and just one-month-old dark rimmed glasses.

“Actually I think I have heard that,” Phillips said with a chuckle when told of the slight resemblance.

Like the rest of the players, he had also caught wind of the captain’s elevated status.

“If I would have known (Alfredsson was God), I would have been a lot nicer to him,” said Phillips.

A bigger secret is how the Senators have managed to contain Sidney Crosby all these years. Nobody has done it better for an extended period of time.

Before Wednesday, Crosby had played 23 games against the Senators but managed only five goals, 17 assists and 22 points. Comparatively, he had also played 23 games against the Maple Leafs and scored 18 goals, 19 assists and 37 points.

“He’s a guy that we look at what he wants to do, where he wants to be, and we have to make sure we always have a guy on him,” said Phillips. “He’s one of those players that if you sit back and try to play because you’re worried about getting burned, you will. You need to be in his face and not give him time to make the plays he’s capable of making.

“It’s one of those things you want to just keep it going, not talk about. He’s got that ability to break out and have a huge night against us. We’ll try to just keep it low key and doing what we’re doing.”

And pray to God that it keeps working.

STARTS AND STOPS

Dan Bylsma is approaching the four-year anniversary of the day he was hired as Penguins coach. The team has never had anyone hold the job that long. Ever ... Shouldn’t Siri call Craig Anderson God? He’s the Senators saviour, isn’t he? ... For the second straight night, an Anaheim scout was at a Senators game.

BETWEEN PERIODS

A great play-by-play call you may have heard on local radio is of the fight between goalies Ryan Hatch and Ben Bishop some eight years ago, when the Senators backup was with the Texas Tornado of the NAHL.

“It was pretty cool,” Bishop recalled the other day. “It was down in Dallas, it was the year of the (last) lockout. Our arena sat 3,500 but we’d get like 4,000 a game. It was always sold out. A fight broke out and (the dispute with Hatch) just kind of happened. We wanted to meet at centre ice, but you got a two-game suspension if you crossed the red line. So I wanted to meet right there. He stood at his blue line (motioning) and eventually I said, screw it, and I just went over. I ended up not getting suspended because the linesman had a chance to break it up and he didn’t. I definitely threw a lot more punches than he did. It was just a lot of fun.”

MARC’S METHOTS

What was going on inside the cranium of the Senators No. 3 Wednesday morning you ask?

“Something that’s been on my mind a lot lately has been Valentine’s Day,” said Marc Methot. “It’s been a few years in a row now that I’ve been single, and it weighs on you mentally, I find. Knowing that a lot of the guys get to go back home and see their loved ones, and I go home to my video games and my fish. It’s a tough time of the year for me.”